"A boy will wield that power?" Obi wan's words tinged with exhausted disbelief.
"That boy grows up Obi wan. He grows into a brilliant young man, charismatic with a heart of gold. And that good young man slowly turns into a prideful and fearful one whose self-assuredness could power entire ships. The Chosen One."
"You speak of the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the Force?" Qui-Gon's voice trying to be steady with the near constant revelations.
"Indeed Master Qui-Gon, Indeed. In my timeline you bring him to the Temple from Tatooine, and while you are unable to teach him, after the fall of Darth Maul; Obi wan takes him as his Padawan."
The young man in question speaks up, "There's no way I am ready to take on a Padawan, even if I was Knighted tomorrow!"
"You do so, to honor your Master's last wish. It is the best and worst thing to happen to the both of you. Beyond Master and Padawan, you become Brothers. An unstoppable duo, between your steady reserved nature and his impulsiveness and desire to do what's right no matter the cost; the two of you are respected and dreaded by all in the war to come."
"But that war changes him, the Sith keeps maneuvering obstacles in his way, making him jaded and frustrated. His power and control growing in leaps and bounds, and in his mind the Jedi Council is always holding him back. Other events start to increase his fear of losing those he knows and cares about."
"And the Sith offers him an 'easy path' to cut down the obstacles and fears." Qui-Gonn looking through Callera as the pieces fall into place.
"Yes, and the price of that easy path was the Jedi Order. Butchered like cattle and scattered to the winds. But in the end; he doesn't save what he fears to lose. Twenty years he serves Sidious, his iron fist in the galaxy. Until one young man was able to reach out through the man's self-hatred to the good man he had once been. That once good man, chose to make one last stand and kill Sidious. The old Jedi and Sith orders burned away. Balance restored, and time for new growth from ashes of the old."
"I still cannot believe, that I would take someone like that as a Padawan." Obi Wan's skepticism still clear.
"Qui-Gon's dying wish was the main reason at first, to help shepherd the boy down the path your Master wanted him to walk. In the short time till Qui-Gon's passing he becomes very important to the boy. By teaching him, you help heal the scars in both your hearts. There were most definitely better teachers on a technical level for the boy, but on an emotional level; it was the best thing to happen to you both as people and individuals."
"I notice that you haven't given the boy's name yet," Qui-Gon's steady voice bringing them all back to the now.
"If he exists here, he deserves a chance to make his own impression upon you. Right now, he's just an innocent boy who hasn't done anything I've mentioned, he has yet to turn the universe on its axis. For good or ill; and should be treated as such."
"But you said he'd destroy the Jedi!" Obi Wan's voice showing the strains of the revelations of the day.
"I could destroy the Jedi Order," Callera's voice tired yet matching her chilling blue gaze, "Master Qui-Gon could do it, Sidious could do it with or without the boy, Yoda could do it; there are many people who could destroy the order, from without or within." Pausing briefly to let her tone register, "And maybe the best way to save the Jedi, is to destroy the Order."
That proclamation rocks the other occupants of the room on their heels before Callera continues. "The Jedi Order has ossified and become brittle. So set in its ways and looking down from it's Tower upon the rest of the galaxy."
"We serve the Force..." Qui-Gon interjects
"But you do so in such a way as to appear distant and unapproachable. Larger than life paragons, that act like they know better than the common sapient. And beyond that, lashed to will of a corrupt and ineffective political body rather than the will of the Force. I was awarded my Knighthood, just before the war you saw Master Qui-Gon, and I was still a Knight in the eyes of the Order even though I walked my own path helping refugees. There are ways to serve the Force and Republic, without being a walled off from it's people or bound to its 'leadership'."
Sagging slightly Callera shook her head, "I apologize for the tirade. I read about you in retrospective through mixed records and outside viewpoints. But it seems so wrong to be holed up in that Temple, when you have so much to offer the galaxy."
"And the current situation is a strain on all of us." Qui-Gon's words elicit a nod from Callera.
"I was supposed to be meditating right now," Callera's body starting to shake as her words are barely heard by the others in the room, "I was trying to heal the scars of my own soul. To face my inner shadow given form; but instead," her voice rising, "I'm dumped into 'the' pivotal moment of the Old Republic," and lowering again, "and I now might be responsible for its salvation. At the cost of those I know possibly never coming to be."
Rising from lower bunk still shaky, Callera looks the two in the eye. "Don't tell anyone about this, not yet at least. Queen Amidala respects Senator Palpatine too much right now. You might not believe me; but if he finds out I believe or truly know he is Darth Sidious…"
"Your life would be forfeit, if your beliefs are true."
Callera nods to Qui-Gon's words.
"We will not speak of what you've told us, until we have managed to meet with the council."
"But Master, what will we tell the Queen and the Captain?"
"Tell them the truth; that the Force somehow moved me from Dagobah to Naboo and with such an action you feel I must be seen by the council." Callera's gaze moves between the two. "It's no lie."
"And explaining your training in the Force if pressed?"
"A mixture of Jedi descendants and tribal cultures outside the well-travelled hyperlanes, another reason to bring me to the council, to evaluate another school of force-wielders." Moving past the two, she opens the door and looks back at them. "For now, I'm going to see if I 'acquire' a blanket and pillow from the crew, and get a few hours of sleep at the very least before the handmaidens and I 'play dress up.'